I want some way to synchronize files between my laptop and my stationary computer. I was thinking about writing a script that uses rsync to do this. But then I found out about a program called Unison which seems to made exactly for situations like mine.

Does anyone here have any experience from using Unison? Does it work well? What about merging files and so on? Does that work as expected? Any disastrous bugs?

I want some way to synchronize files between my laptop and my stationary computer. I was thinking about writing a script that uses rsync to do this. But then I found out about a program called Unison which seems to made exactly for situations like mine.

Does anyone here have any experience from using Unison?

Yes.

Does it work well?

Yes.

What about merging files and so on? Does that work as expected?

It copies changes to files rather than the entire file and by default will prefer the most recent version, regardless of the machine it is on. You can opt to change this behaviour on a per file basis. If you were to make changes to the same file on two different machines, it would not merge them, rather it would prefer the most recently changed file.

I'd recommend Unison, too. Once you are comfortable with its basic functions, you can get creative by synchronising over a network via an SSH connection and adding more "power user" settings to the config files. It is now an essential tool for me. Good luck!